A group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals... Read allA group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.A group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.
- Nominated for 5 Oscars
- 9 wins & 13 nominations total
Ron Howard
- Steve
- (as Ronny Howard)
Charles Martin Smith
- Terry
- (as Charlie Martin Smith)
Terence McGovern
- Mr. Wolfe
- (as Terry McGovern)
Kathleen Quinlan
- Peg
- (as Kathy Quinlan)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDue to the low budget, George Lucas was unable to pay all of the crew members. He offered to give many of them a screen credit in lieu of payment, and they accepted. Traditionally, only department heads received screen credit. Giving screen credit to so many crew members has now become a tradition, which is why closing credits last so long now.
- GoofsThe movie is set in 1962, but a cinema marquee advertises Dementia 13 (1963) (released in 1963). This was done on purpose by George Lucas, because Dementia 13 was Producer Francis Ford Coppola's first movie.
- Quotes
Curt Henderson: You're the most beautiful, exciting thing I've ever seen in my life and I don't know anything about you.
- Crazy creditsWorded epilogues prior to the credits shows what happen to the characters following the movie. While this has since become commonplace in films, it was considered innovative at the time.
- Alternate versionsOriginally released at 110 minutes; re-edited and re-released in a slightly longer version (112 minutes) in 1978 when many of its then-unknown stars became famous.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Airport 1975 (1974)
- SoundtracksAt The Hop
Written by John Madara, Artie Singer and Dave White (uncredited)
Performed by Flash Cadillac (as Flash Cadillac and The Continental Kids)
Produced by Kim Fowley
Courtesy of Roulette Records:
Featured review
As it should have been and sometimes was
While born three years after the events in the film, I could still relate to the plight of being a teenager on the threshold to adult life. I think it takes a pretty insensitive person not to be captivated by this excellent movie (boring? - because just one car blew up, or what?!). This was the 3rd or 4th time I saw it, and it is just getting better. It is unusual to see filmmaking of this caliber coming from Hollywood (not least when considering Lucas' latest offering - blech!), but like movies like "The Year My Voice Broke" and "My Life as a Dog", "American Graffiti" tells us something about where we came from, without being dull or preachy. ***½ out of ****
helpful•153
- Björn-5
- Sep 22, 2000
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Another Slow Night in Modesto
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $750,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $115,000,000
- Gross worldwide
- $115,006,578
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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